Every Action Has A Reaction
by pheonixandsirens
Summary: Lauren's attempt to make Emily look bad spins quickly out of control as her one action causes a tragedy that ripples outward effecting everyone it touches. Okay, sucky description, but first time trying, chapter 2 much better than chapter 1
1. Chapter 1

_**side note--fixed the chapter to a more easily read format based on replies, ended up making a few changes, hope it reads better!**_

***Chapter 1***

**Lauren POV**

Lauren was in a great mood as she walked out of her house and down to her car, smiling cheerfully to herself, as she got in. Today was going to be a great day; pretty much the only thing that she wasn't thrilled about was the hour the day was starting at.

_It was so early it was still dark and normally that was something she would throw quite a fit, _she thought as she glanced into her rearview mirror to check her hair and give herself a satisfied smile. Today the early hour was a bonus, it was the reason her latest plan would work so successfully. She started the engine and flipped on the radio.

As she drove along the dark empty streets to The Rock, she started going through a mental checklist of her latest 'projects'.

_Bye-Bye Chloe Kmetko—one tacky tramp detached from her Dad's arm and wallet—Check. _

_One Carter Anderson as her BF—status, moving away from Kaylie and towards Lauren, added bonus he was currently living with her and Kaylie found out and is pissed at him again, in turn pushing him closer to her—Outlook?—Good. _

_Reinstatement of Kaylie Cruz as her BFF—Check! _She paused giving a rueful shrug, _of course Kaylie _was_ a bit peeved with her about the whole Carter thing, but __they_ had_ promised to never let another guy come between them. So by her reckoning Kaylie couldn't really get all mad and mean over the whole thing. _

_Getting the Rock-girls placed into their proper place as part the National Team's go-to-girls—Outlook?—Excellent!_ She was confident that she could get the National Committee to place them on the 'compete' list in exchange for withdrawing from the Chinese invitational.

She shot her reflection another smile for her successful 'projects' as she went back to the reason for today's sunny mood—_Seeing Emily Kmetko off her team, out of her life and gone from The Rock—for good!—Outlook?—Confident! Today was going to a huge step forward in getting rid of the current bane of her existence and having order restored._

A scowl crossed over her features as she thought of Emily. _Every single problem in her life could be traced straight back to Emily's 'Payless' clad feet. Kaylie, Carter, Marty, Summer—every single problem that she'd had to fix would have been fine if Emily had never come to Boulder._ Her good mood souring rapidly at her train of thought, _as far as _she _was concerned, Emily Kmetko's presence at the Rock and in her world was the equivalent of finding a hair in your salad at a 5-star restaurant! Add in Chloe, you also had a finger in your french fries_. Lauren forced the anger away; _after all, today's project was the beginning of Emily's exit from Lauren's life!_

Emily, unlike the rest of The Rock had no car. Since the meeting with the National Committee was so early and Emily's mom was out of town with her brother, she had offered Emily a ride.

Lauren rolled her eyes; _of course she had absolutely no intention of picking Emily up_, as an added precaution she'd turned the ringers of the house phones off as well as programming her cell to go direct to voicemail.

Lauren pulled into her space at The Rock, thoughts returning to her plan. _It was an _unbelievably _simple strategy_. By the time Emily realized that her ride wasn't coming there'd be no way for her to get there in time. _There were basically two outcomes,_ she thought with a shrug, _and they both worked for her. _

At the very worst, Emily would show up considerably late to the meeting, pissing off everyone with her lack of responsibility and respect; after all the National Girls _did_ need to hold themselves to certain standards. Lauren pursed her lips into fake little pout, _"poor little Emily, she just can't cut it," but that's what you get when you shop for champions at outlet stores." _Best case scenario, Emily gets kicked out of it all right off for failing to meet her obligations.

Lauren got out of her car, nearly skipping to gym. Pulling open the door she walked in glancing around. This early the gym was almost completely empty, the only people here were those who absolutely had to be and no one looked happy about.

The observation area had been set up a bit like a conference room and was where the rest of the group was gathered. Changing her happy smile into a more neutral expression Lauren headed across the gym entering the room and exchanging greetings with the people already there.

In the background the phone in Sasha's office was ringing but since neither Sasha nor Summer was in yet, so it went unanswered. They all sat silently in the room, eying each other as they waited for everyone to arrive. She'd figured Sasha wouldn't come in until right before the meeting started. Her plan hinged on it, after all it would be hardly be effective if Emily called the gym right off and Sasha picked up. Actually, it would misfire if that happened.

As hoped, Sasha was the last one in, but when you lived literally right outside the gym, it wasn't like you had to give yourself time for delays. As Sasha joined them, he looked around frowning as he noticed Emily's absence. He glanced at her and asked, "Where's Emily, weren't you two riding in together?"

She shrugged and injected a concerned look into her expression and tone, "We were supposed to. She called and said she had some kind of family emergency not to worry about picking her up. That she'd arranged for another ride."

She finished her explanation, cocked her head towards Sasha and adopted a slightly puzzled questioning look. He continued to study her, arms crossed, weighing her answer. Kaylie gave her a disbelieving look rolling her eyes. The silence stretched, she finally glanced around the room before asking, "haven't you heard from her?"

Everyone at the table was looking around with different expressions. Kaylie sat glaring suspiciously at her and looking like she'd like to rip Lauren a new one. Kelly wasn't even trying to hide the gleeful smirk on face. The various Committee members' expression contained various degrees of irritated impatience, as they glanced at watches, tapping fingers.

Ellen Beil, Committee president was the one to finally break the silence, "Beloff, _this_ is unacceptable. It's one of the problems we have with your gymnasts to start with. She was _told_ the time, _told_ to be here, _told_ how important this is and what's at stake."

Beil broke off scanning the room, spreading her hands in a 'and yet look' gesture "Knowing all this, what does she do? She blows it off!" She shot another withering look at Sasha, "Blows it off without even _bothering_ to call her coach!"

This time she glanced over at the other committee members before continuing. "Kmetko's _not_ someone I wanted representing Team USA to begin with and today's actions, 5hey cement that decision."

Keeping her expression appropriately grave, Lauren mentally pumped her fist and smiled, _this_ was turning out even _better_ than she had hoped.

Kaylie, of course immediately jumped to Emily's defense, "I'm sure she'll be here. Her families not even in town, so whatever happened must be _really_ bad!" Kaylie shot another glare over at Lauren before her shooting Sasha and the committee and imploring look, "_This_ is Emily's _dream_, she wouldn't jeopardize it!"

_SHIT!, how did Kaylie know that Emily's family was out of town, she hadn't realized it was common knowledge_, Lauren thoughts raced over her options to this latest hurdle, before deciding on nothing more than a shrug. _Figures that Emily would find yet another way to screw up Lauren's life, after all, why would she stop something that had been working so well for? But that was soon going to end._

"This isn't like Emi—"Sasha started, only to be interrupted by Marty.

"It's _exactly_ like Emily. She was late the entire time I was her coach. She's an _excellent_ gymnast with _amazing_ talent," he stressed before giving a rueful look and shrug, "but she's got a lot going on, she doesn't have the same background and support the other girls do. She doesn't take direction well and these _all_ affect her performance."

Kaylie looked over at Marty, arching an eyebrow and laughed, muttering under her breath, 'yeah, 'cause you had _soo_ much time to focus on Emily even before your extra _'coaching'_ duties interfered and sent you to Denver.'

Sasha shot Marty an incredulous look, "the _entire_ time you were her coach?" He paused, spreading his hands expansively before sarcastically adding, "that was what Marty? _Two whole_ days of coaching, before you ran out, with _no_ notice; abandoning your contract _and_ your gymnasts! Yes, I'm sure you formed a strong bond and picture of who she was."

Marty started to reply, but the phone started ringing again.

Sasha pushed off from the wall, "that's probably Emily, I'll find out what's going on," he started towards the door, when Ellen stopped him with a sharp "No!"

Everyone swung their heads towards her in question. Beil looked directly at Sasha and firmly stated, "The meeting was scheduled for 5am, Emily knows that. Her decision to not arrive on time is a clear statement that she doesn't feel the need to follow the rules."

She paused, looking around the room at each person in turn. "We will start the meeting now or we won't be having it at all. Your choice."

Sasha looked around the room sighing. She could see he wanted to get the phone, to find out what was going on, where Emily was, but he couldn't. If he left it would send a clear message to the committee. His actions would affect the other gymnasts at The Rock and The Rock itself, jeopardizing all their chances.

Lauren smiled smugly to herself as Sasha finally sat down, _it didn't matter how much Emily the underdog was his pet, he couldn't place her above _everyone_ else_.

Someone shut the door and he meeting started. Lauren listened, hearing the ringing stop as the machine finally picked the call up, but she couldn't make out any of the message being left. She turned her attention back to the room, internally smiling in satisfaction; Operations 'Emily-away' was off to a great start.

* * *

_**Side note**- Okay, completely new at this but I thought what the frak, give it a try, the first chapter isn't really great, I actually started with writing Chapter 2 and bits and pieces of following chapters before bouncing back to write the first, so please at least give chapter 2 try. Let me know what you think, like I said this is my first try, let me know if I should keep going_.


	2. Chapter 2

***Chapter 2***

**Emily POV**

Emily stormed down the streets, the many _many_ streets between her house and The Rock, lit occasionally by the headlights of a passing car. Her movements were stiff and jerky, her mind seething with anger. She watched the clouds her breath made in the cold morning air, giving a shiver as that same cold air easily seeped through the thin warm-suit she wore.

Normally she enjoyed running, she'd turn on her IPod and crank the volume until she could feel the beat pounding through her entire body. She could let go of everything that strangled her and run happy and free—no drama, no obligations, no bills, no pressure, no politics, no conflict, no one and _nothing_ else to consider. Living in the exact moment as it happened—muscles stretching, the in and out of breathing, the rhythmic pounding of her pulse as the endorphins flooded her body. She'd add tumbles and flips—each action sliding seamlessly into the next move, embracing the pure freedom of movement.

But right now, _nothing_ was normal and happy was the last thing she was feeling—'_happy?'_ she snorted to herself at the thought, shaking her head, _hell 'mad' didn't even hit the top 20 emotions of her current mood… infuriated, incensed, sheer pissed off raging anger! oh yeah all that was up there,_ she seethed _, along with the semi homicidal urge to assist Lauren in taking a long walk off a short beam, a short beam perched on the edge of the roof of a 25 story building._ _As for '_free_,' she felt about as free as a wild animal trying to chew off its own leg in order to escape from a hunters trap._

Her gym bag bounced against her hip as she increased her pace, moving quickly down the dim streets. _Frickin' 'Oh-my-God-O'clock' in the morning and she was already running late—happy-happy-joy-joy._

_Today's lovely early morning run wasn't leading her towards a desired escape and endorphin rush. Oh no, of course not, today she was running straight towards _Destination-Drama_ and all the ensuing complications and tangles associated with it. Tangles that often made her day to day life feel a bit like a lab rat running through a maze…and this morning—this morning's extra hubbub and hullabaloo were compliments of the High-Queen of Manipulation and Machinations herself—Lauren Tanner._

She finally paused, head down, fists clenched, arms tense at her side, her entire body rigid and trembling with the overflow of emotions. She gritted her teeth swallowing the scream of frustration strangling her. Her tense body was briefly illuminated by the headlights of a passing car.

_Calm-down, calm-down, calm-down_, she chanted to herself, forcibly slowing her breathing. Futilely trying to reign in all the chaotic thoughts running through her…but,—"_Christ! I don't fricking believe this!"_ She slammed her fists down on her thighs, "_I just can't fricking"_—

She cut off the thought, a bitter laugh escaping as she wearily shook her head—_she didn't even know which pissed her off more…the fact that Lauren _had _deliberately screwed her over, _yet again_—or that she'd _actually _believed that Lauren _wouldn't_ follow her SOP of teammate support_.

_Since Lauren's usual method of support was generously expressed by stabbing her teammate in the back and tripping them, all the while simultaneously offering a helping hand—right over the edge of a cliff. Emily wasn't quite sure why she figured today would be any different_

She knew when it came to inter-gym things that Lauren would not only quite happily use Emily's back as her own personal springboard, she'd consider it a bonus. Today however wasn't a 'Rock' thing. Today was a National Team thing and Emily had figured , or least hoped, that Lauren would support the 'Rock-girl' portion of the National Team, or at least not actively sabotage it and _instead_ focus her plotting on the whole 'Kelly-Parker-Marty-no-Rock-girls' mess.

Apparently Lauren had decided that with a bit of multitasking she could accomplish both world domination and mass destruction. AKA—The Rock girls dominating the National Team and the for 'The Rock' girls going back to being Payson, Kaylie and Lauren, with Emily nowhere to be found.

_How Lauren planned on achieving that end, Emily wasn't quite sure. After all Payson was still recovering from back surgery and Kaylie would quite happily take point in carrying out the whole 'long-walk-short-beam-rooftop' scheme._ A small smile touched Emily's lips briefly at the thought. _After all no jury in the world would consider it murder, at least none that had ever met Lauren. No, if they'd ever had to deal with Lauren they'd declare the deed to be a service to community and give them keys to the city. _

Emily let out a light laugh that faded all too quickly and started into a light jog again, _Christ she was frustrated and pissed and just _soo fricking tired_ of this all._

Sasha had worked his ass off to get them where they were. The National Team had fallen on their faces in Beijing; the Chinese team was coming to The Rock, to compete. This, in turn had the National committee's panties in a twist. All this, resulted in the National Committee coming to The Rock this morning for an early morning meeting.

Participating would be; the National Committee, National Coach- Marty, Kelly Parker-former National Champion and trained by Marty at both Denver Elite and National Team, Sasha- who should have been the National Coach, and the Rock/National Team girls who were being overlooked.

The Rock girls were part of Team USA, in fact Kaylie was the National Champion, Lauren was best on beam. All the girls' DOD were both higher and cleaner than the girls currently competing on behalf of Team USA. National Team Coach Marty had participated in an inappropriate relationship with Kaylie's mother, had problems with Lauren's father all in addition to serious trust issues with all three girls over his actions in previously leaving The Rock without notice and making biased competition selections.

The National Committee was coming in hope of preventing the invitational from happening. Sasha and The Rock had agreed in hopes of getting the National Committee to stop passing them over. Their gymnastic careers and chance at the 2012 Olympics hung in the balance of this meeting.

Lauren had actually _offered_ to pick Emily up, as her mom was out of town with her brother Brian and Emily, unlike the other girls, didn't have her own car. Like an idiot she'd _actually_ believed Lauren would set things aside, even if only temporarily, in the spirit of the whole 'the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend-thing'. She'd thought that _maybe_ the offer of a ride so that Emily wouldn't have to walk from home to The Rock at 'Oh-dark-hundred' in the morning was an olive branch.

In hindsight, she wasn't quite sure _why_ on earth she'd believed Lauren could manage a truce…after all Lauren's version of 'I'm-over-it-I-just-want-to-focus' ran more along the line of '2nd-verse-same-as-the-first-just-a-little-bit-louder-and-a-little-bit-worse'.

You know, like going from secretly _sleeping _with your BFF's boyfriend to secretly having him _live _in your attic…though only in Lauren's mind would the BFF part still be applied. With Emily, Lauren's tactics went more along the lines of icing-out to vault-sabotage to 'misunderstandings'-that would effect-National-Team-chances. Chances like this morning's meeting. The meeting she was now going to be _very, very, very_ late to; the meeting that could _define_ her gymnastics career.

Still, Emily had been surprised when Lauren hadn't shown up on the agreed upon a time, and hadn't answered her phone or her cell phone or replied to any texts. When 30 minutes later Lauren still hadn't shown up, Emily had finally signed in resignation and began the jog to The Rock.

It was 4:30am; the sky was still dark, the roads almost empty and her breath making visible plumes in the cold air. She jogged along the empty streets, lit only be the occasionally passing car. Using her roiling emotions to push her faster

This brought her to back to her current situation—20 minutes away from a meeting starting in 10 minutes and hoping against all odds that she could somehow manage to get there on time.

She slowed to a brisk walk as she fished her cell phone from the gym bag, slung over her shoulder and shivered from the cold, her light warm up suit over a team leo offered little protection. She was hoping someone at The Rock would pick up the call.

If she was _really_ lucky Sasha would be in his office and could maybe send someone to pick her up, then she could still be on time, with no one the wiser. Slightly less lucky, someone, other than Lauren, would hear it and find a way to delay the meeting until she got there. On the other hand it was _four-freaking-thirty_ in the morning and no one might be in the gym yet. Either way, her best chance at avoiding a total Charlie-Foxtrot was to call and keep her fingers crossed.

Emily continued walking as dialed The Rock and listened to the ringing phone, taking looking for street signs so she could relay where she was. She looked over a car drove by her again. She had the phone at her ear, counting the rings as no one and nothing picked up the call. Idly wondering how many rings Sasha or Summer had set the machine at.

When the machine finally picked up after 9 rings it surprised a laugh from her. Hell, at that many rings Sasha had time to make it into the gym from his trailer if he could hear it ringing.

The outgoing message ran through such a long list of various options and instructions, surprising another laugh from Emily. _Summer was definitely the one who had set up the machine, if it had been Sasha the outgoing would be something along the lines of 'I'm busy, leave a message.' _

As she waited for the beep that would let her start recording she realized it wasn't the occasional car passing by—but the same car making repeated passes. She tried to get a closer look, wondering if maybe Lauren had simply been screwing _with_ her instead of screwing her _over_, _and wouldn't that be a nice surprise_, she thought rolling her eyes.

As the car got closer she registered that it wasn't a car but a jeep and one that Lauren wouldn't be caught dead in, not even on a bet. _'Shit! Shit! Shit!'_ frantic thoughts raced through her head as she continued walking. Trying not to look concerned as her internal voice issued directions,_ 'stare straight ahead, _Don't_ acknowledge them, _don't_ run, just walk, walk fast, look like you know exactly where you're going, where am I? _

The jeep slowed down as it drew even with her, the soft top down and windows open, a guy in his twenties leaned out. She kept walking straight ahead. When he called out a "Hey," she glanced over and tried to give him a slightly questioning look as she continued walking, the phone to her ear.

"You out really late or really early?" he asked her.

She could see his friends in the car elbowing each other and laughing.

"_Stay calm! Stay calm_" the voice in her head urged.

She continued walking, motioning to her phone like she was listing to someone as the recorded message continued on in her ear, _Christ, right now she was really wishing it had been Sasha to set the outgoing message_.

The jeep continued to pace her, as the same guy leaned out, his friends snickering in the background, "it's dark and cold, you shouldn't be out her alone, we'll give you a ride."

She managed to keep her voice even and steady as she answered with a light, "I'm meeting my coach and team for an early practice, and it's really close, but thanks for the offer."

Her heart pounded in her chest and adrenaline flooded her system. "_Let them pass me! Let them pass me! Don't stop, please, please_, please_ don't stop,_" she prayed as she continued walking. When pulled his head back in and the jeep passed by her and picked up speed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Her thoughts were so frantic that she almost missing the beep indicating she could start her message.

"Hey, it's Emily, anyone there?"

She paused glancing down at her watch_, CRAP! The meeting would be starting right now, nothing she could do now, only hope for the best_, she sighed and as continued with her message.

"Anyways, I know the meeting should be starting I'm _really, really_ sorry. My ride never showed up this morning," _yeah, that would be Lauren_, "it must have been a misunderstanding," _like me thinking Lauren was an actual person instead of a venomous backstabbing little bitch_, "Anyways, since I couldn't reach anyone, I started walking," 30 _freaking minutes ago,_ "I'm going as fast as I can, the last crossroads I passed were Maple and Sycamore. I'm heading West on Maple towards The Rock. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm going to stay on Maple straight to the gym, so if there's _any_ chance someone can come out and pick me up; it would be _really really_ great. Again, I'm so sorry about not being there on ti…"

Her voice trailed off mid-word as the sound of a car reached her ear. Looking over her shoulder she saw it was the same jeep, slowly approaching, this time several of the guys leaning out the windows. Their voices echoed loudly in the quiet, as they goaded each other, each taunt spurring the others on. '_This is bad, this is bad, this is soo bad, don't let it happen, please please, I can't do this, I can't…_' her thoughts were frenzied, jumbled, crashing into each other as panic and fear flooded her system.

She fought to stay focused, to stay calm, audibly swallowing as she continued on the phone, "if anybody is there pick up! Pick-up NOW!"

She could hear her voice cracking as the jeep came closer the guys inside calling out to her, she picked up her pace again, "_please_…"

She realized that she'd whimpered the plea into the phone and forced herself to firm her voice and give the information that might bring her help instead of giving into her rising panic.

"There's a yellow jeep following me, it's a black soft top, with Denver plates."

She took another deep breath forcing herself to look over her shoulder, "there's a 2-M-T-0 on the plate, I can't really see anything else there's mud on it and its dark."

She hoped the fact that she was on the phone and looking at them might make them think twice about actually doing anything. That it would act as a silent but loud 'if you do _anything_ I _will_ be able to ID you.' They took no notice, instead continuing to egg each other on.

Emily took another deep breath, pleading in her head for anyone or anything to hear her, to help her. Hoping that someone would hear the message, that the machine wouldn't cut her off, that this would stop.

"I think there are five of them, mid-twenties, I'm pretty sure they're drunk or high. One of them has dirty blonde hair, kinda that surfer style, average bodies, cau-cau-caucasian." Her voice broke as she tried to continue on, she knew she didn't sound calm, she felt as if she were struggling for breath, her heart trapped in her throat.

She continued on with her descriptions, trying to simply move, to focus, to not panic, fighting her instinct to run. The jeep continued to pace her, each jeer triggering the others to push harder, get louder, more graphic, their aggression rising with each taunt.

The lewdness she could handle, _that_ gave her a chance to get to The Rock, a chance that someone would come to get her. But with every minute the potential for violence was escalating. She knew if she ran that they would give chase. That the _second _they got out of that jeep was when the same second that _potential _violence would detonate into _actual_ violence and any chance of escape would be gone.

When she heard the jeep stop and doors slam, she only took one glimpse over her shoulder, before breaking into a full out run as fear swamped her.

She managed to yank the gym bag off her shoulder and drop it as she ran, not even aware that she still had the phone in her hand. Behind her she could hear them give chase after her, the pounding of their feet, their taunting laughter.

She ran, pushing herself as hard as she could, her only thought _ESCAPE_. Her heart was slamming against her chest, frantic breathing echoing loudly in her ears, sides screaming in pain from the demands she was making on her body. She felt a hand close around her arm and her terrified scream split the air.

Her speed and his grip swung her slightly in one direction before she managed to pull free. She had one moment of relief before the change in direction sent her crashing into another of the men. Her own momentum caused her to rebound off him before slamming hard into the ground, the forgotten phone skidding from her hand and sliding away.

She gasped, desperately trying to pull in air, to get up, to get away; to do _anything_ other than lay crumpled on the ground struggling to breathe. Terror and panic flooded her system as she pushed to her feet.

They were gathered in a loose circle around her. Laughing, watching as she spun frantically in a circle, searching for an avenue of escape. Instincts shrieked, adrenaline raced, she kept whirling in panic, trying to focus. She tried to evade their hands, but each time she jumped away from one of man, it bounced her into contact with another one. They jeered at her as she ricocheted around their circle like a pinball.

She kept searching for a weak link she could use to break though their circle, but they'd turned into a pack tormenting their prey. If she could just get free of the circle she had a chance of help or escape. She gathered herself and lunged forward; hoping they might underestimate her and increase her odds of breaking through.

As she reached the far end of the circle hoping to slide under a small gap, one of them stopped her by simply grabbing onto the back of her jacket and yanking. She went flying backwards onto her ass again, setting off another round of laughter.

She tried to regain her feet, only to have her jacket caught again. This time it ripped free of her, pitching forward onto her hands and knees. Before she managed to get her feet under her, she was yanked again in a different direction, this time by the back of her pants. Every time she started to find her balance, another grip on her clothing sent her spinning her into yet another direction as the fabric ripped. She shuddered as panic began to swallow her whole. Her last clear thought echoing loudly through her head, '_This is going to be really bad.'_

_**This chapter is actually what I started with. keep going? Yes, no?**_


	3. Chapter 3

***Chapter 3***

**Police**

Lieutenant Marc Gabriel stood silent in the morning chill, hands buried in his pockets. Deep in thought, he stared down at the ground, where the young girl had been found, crumpled, bloody and bound, on the sidewalk. With the exception of where her body had been the area was almost completely covered with numbered yellow placards, each marking the location of removed evidence.

Even though the direct area had been processed he could still see her there. She was tiny—delicate, she had good muscle tone, probably some height as well, but he doubted her weight would hit triple digits even if she was wearing a soaking wet snowsuit. They'd left her on the sidewalk, her clothing so badly shredded it resembled confetti. Bite marks showed in sharp contrast against her pale fine-grained skin. Her wrists had been tied together behind her back before the strip was then looped up and around her neck, so that any time she struggled, the restraints would start to strangle her. They hadn't even realized what the bindings had been made of until they'd been cut off her.

They still hadn't found her ID, or anything else that might point to who she was. The industrial section of Boulder they were in was basically a Monday-thru-Friday area. It would remain almost completely empty during the weekend. He wondered what their girl had been doing in this area, let alone this early and on a Saturday.

"Lieutenant Gabriel!"

His head jerked up at the sound of his name, turning in the direction of the call. Most of the city might just be starting to wake up Boulder PD were already in full steam. He had his men spread out over the area like ants. Searching for anything that could ID their girl, and help put away the sick fucks who'd done this to her.

Marc started in the direction of Jennings, the officer who'd called his name and had his hand in air to get Marc's attention. Jennings wore a satisfied smile on his face, "Think we found something LT!"

As he got closer and saw what the man was holding, he felt a smile start to curve his own lips.' The officer wasn't waving his hand, he was waving a cell phone, with one of those beaded tag things that teenagers liked to attach to them.

When he reached Jennings, he stretched out his hand for the phone, "Where'd you find it?"

Jennings passed the phone over, "under the bushes, it was still open. Think it's hers?"

He opened the phone and started pushing the buttons to access the call history, "probably, it's got one of girl-taggy things on it." He gave a shrug, "can't really picture a guy attaching red and purple beads to a pho—Son of a Bitch!"

"What is it?"

He tilted the phone so Jennings could see it. "We've got half a dozen calls this morning, all before 4:30 to a 'Lauren.' The last call though, that's to a number titled 'Rock' and it lasted 35 minutes, maybe a guy." He looked over at Jennings, "If it's hers, this gives us ID, a possible suspect an idea of timeline and might explain why she was out here."

"Let's find out who 'Rock' is," he pulled out his own phone and started dialing the number that was listed on the other phone. Listening to the ringing, he scanned through the other names and numbers on the phone. Just as he was about to give up, there was a small click and an answering machine picked up the call.

'Thank you for calling the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club, we're not available to take your call right now…'

He continued listening to smooth female voice reciting information and offering a buffet list of almost every option available except to talk to a real person. Finally he pushed the option that would give him the address, writing it down on his hand before hanging up. Digging his notebook out of his back pocket he wrote the address down twice more before looking over at Jennings again.

"It's some kind gym, but no one's picking up, so I'm going to head over and see what I can find out. Jericho's still over at the station interviewing the good sams that called it in, call over, see if he can meet me there."

Ripping off the first page with the address and phone number on it he passed it over to Jennings. "Detective Samuelson will take point in overseeing the crime scene, keep searching I want every centimeter gone over. Pass the phone over to Freest and let her know that I want everything possible off it. See what you can find out about the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club and call me with any updates ASAP. Got it?"

At Jennings' nod, he started towards his car, dialing his partner's cell as he walked. As he was getting into his car, he paused, calling out, "And Jennings," he waited until the young officer was looking at him again. "Great Job!"


	4. Chapter 4

****Chapter 4****

**Police**

Waiting for his partner to arrive before he went inside, Marc leaned against his car. Personally, he'd rather have gotten started straight off. Jericho could then have either joined him once he was done with the interviews or he could have updated him later. The building was close, well relatively speaking, to where the girl had been found. Close enough that there was a good chance of the answers to their questions being inside. Unfortunately, just as he got out of the cars, he'd been told to stay put and wait for Jericho, who was already on his way.

He glanced around the lot, 9 am on a Saturday morning and almost every spot was full. Towards the front of the lot there was one of those shiny silver trailers that always made him think of Roswell aliens and Ray Bradbury books. Building looked like every other building nearby; big, made of concrete, generic landscaping, all standard fare. The blue and white sign on the building simply reading 'Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Center,' next to it was a circular logo, the silhouette of girl doing some kind of graceful pose over the mountains.

In this case, looks were most definitely deceiving. The simple unpretentious building housed one of the most prestigious 'Elite gymnastics clubs' in the country. Along prestige came the type of big money and connections that had sent the upper echelons of the department into a screaming hissy fit.

He could see their Jane Doe as a gymnast. It would explain why someone who probably weighed considerably less than his Newf had such good muscle tone. It would also explain why she had been in the industrial section of town on a Saturday morning, when everything was closed. If she was one of them, though, why had no one reported her missing? Yeah, it hadn't been long—maybe five hours, but top athletes were kept on short leashes, there was _no way_ her absence _hadn't_ been noticed. Add in the phone call and someone here _definitely_ knew something.

"Christ! You won't _believe_ the grief the brass is giving us over this!"

He turned with a wry smile at the disgusted voice of his partner, watching the other man stride across the parking lot, ranting the entire time.

"As soon as they found out this case would connect to 'The Rock,' the Chief started screaming about 'the political complications,'" he made quote marks with his hands, "'negative publicity for Boulder,' 'fine upstanding facility.'" This time, he brought his hands up to make talky gestures. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! They're freaked that we're going to go in there and throw accusations at Boulder's latest Press Princesses!" he concluded, throwing out his arms in exasperation.

"Brass got their panties in a wad?"

Jericho shot him a glare, then laughed, "Brass _had_ their panties in a wad," he corrected. "Then the Chief realized exactly _'who'_Cassidy and Chadwick, the two good sanitarians that found her, were. At that point wadded panties turned into flagpole wedgies."

The satisfaction and wording of that statement had him struggling to swallow his laughter. Thoughts taking a more serious turn, he asked, "you thinking that maybe they didn't _find _her there but were part of who _put_ her there?"

Jericho looked at him before laughing in sheer disbelief. "No. Way. Possible." He stated it as an absolute, making each word a separate sentence, "Even if they swung that way. Cassidy, he's basically considered to sit right hand to God in law enforcement circles. "

"and the other one,' he asked dryly.

If anything, Jericho looked more gleeful, "Chadwick," his smile got even wider, "he's worshipped and adored…probably more so than god"

When Marc only rolled his eyes, Jericho added, "by a _completely_ different fan base of course."

"You're being an ass."

"Gotta find something to smile about." Jericho's expression turned grave, "this case, any angle you look at it from, it's hard and it hurts, and all that, it's before you add in minefield of complications we're going to stuck negotiating here." They both went quiet, staring at the building.

Marc finally broke the silence, "Are '_god and his right hand_' going to be trouble? They trying for publicity, participation, credit…what?"

"No, exact opposite. They're not hedging at all and want us to keep their names and details completely out of it. Chadwick redefines high profile and Cassidy's not far behind him. Releasing their names will result in a media feeding frenzy and hamper the investigation." Mark shot him look disbelief." I'm serious, they're not going to be any trouble, trust me. The two of them are willing to answer questions; they're willing to stay in town. They've given us no arguments. Cassidy's offered us any resources we need," he paused again before enunciating, "_without_ having to go through the normal channels and red-tape."

"Well aren't they just paragons," he sniped.

"Hey, it opens up avenues _and_ it gets the Chief off our back."

"I thought you said, that _they_ were the reason the brass went from, what was it…_wads to wedgies_."

"They are, Chief wants us to walk on eggshells and not offend the gym or its various connections and cash cows while investigating. Cassidy managed to very subtly imply that he would find _significantly _larger things for the Chief to worry about than gym moms if he got our way. When the Chief started to bluster, Chadwick cut in with this whole clueless innocent act, like he wasn't even really following the conversation." Jericho paused, before continuing in a voice that mimicked Chadwick, _"Babe, it's just so gorgeous here, like a postcard. I'd hate to take it off the location list for the project…but…that poor girl."_

Marc burst into laughter at the recitation, "They played him."

"Completely played him," Jericho agreed, "Chief's now more worried about having someone brought in over him and the publicity nightmare that would occur if someone with Chadwick's popularity and public visibility declaring the chief as the reason _why_ he _didn't_ want to use Boulder as a location." Jericho tossed him another grin adding, "They've got him between a rock and hard place, makes our job considerably easier."

"If we're no longer walking a tightrope, _why_ did I have to wait for you to arrive?"

"Let me see, how exactly was it phrased, '_if Gabriel's going to charge a minefield make damn sure he knows where the landmines are before he sets about detonating them.'"_

He started towards the gym "Walk and talk, give me the highlights."

"Okay, nutshell version," he fell into stride, "the 'Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Center', known locally as 'The Rock,' is one of the Top two Elite Gymnastic Clubs in the country. It hosts the US Women's National Gymnastics Team, it's also home to 3 of the National team members—including the current champion, Kaylie Cruz, the other two girls are Lauren Tanner and Emily Kmetko. They've also got Payson Keeler; she would have made the team as well but was badly injured. Both Cruz and Tanner's families are big money and connections. Head coach is Sasha Beloff, who took over from Marty Walsh, both men hold Gold medals. Walsh went over to 'Denver Elite,' the other top club, where Kelly Parker, former National Champion, trains. Even though The Rock hosts the National Team, Walsh is the one coaching it. There's bad blood between the two gyms, particularly the coaches as well as between The Rock gymnasts and their former coach. Walsh left the gym, shortly before nationals, with no notice and had an affair with one of the moms at The Rock—while he was still coaching there. We've also got accusations of Walsh and the National Committee blackballing The Rock Girls. "He switched from reeling off info to a newscaster voice, "and the concludes '_Days at our Gym_,'"

Marc reached out to open the door, stopping with his hand on the handle, "any updates on her, has she woken up?"

He shook his head no, "Nothing, Cassidy, he thinks if she's one of their gymnasts, that might be why she's still breathing and not as badly injured."

His breath exploded angrily, "not badly injured!?!" he was incredulous, "The two of them thought she was _dead _initially!—and _now_, now she's not injured!?!? What, does he think her ability to do _cartwheels_ sent them running—_WTF_!?!?"

"Cassidy's not saying she's _not_ hurt, she's _very_ hurt" in contrast his own tone was steady. "They had her wrists bound behind her back, _attached_ to a noose around her neck." His teeth clenched, "and they used _barbwire _for ties. _Breathing _would have been painful, struggling would strangle her, not to mention wire was cutting through her skin." He took a deep breath, "it's not her gymnastics ability that helped, it would be her training and discipline. In that kind of situation, most girls, hell most _people_, wouldn't be able to get clear of the panic—to stop struggling—they'd have accidently killed themselves trying to get free. She's _alive._"

They stood unmoving, hands on the door of the club. His rage cooling down to sad anger, "They thought she was dead_. I_ thought she was dead."

Jericho nodded, "I know."

"She looked dead, when we got there, after I saw her, I started looking around, because they told me our vic was alive, and I couldn't even tell she was alive. She wasn't moving at all; even her eyes were open and fixed. "

Jericho nodded again, "I know, according to Cassidy, that's probably why her injuries aren't as bad as they could be. When she stopped struggling, she completely stopped; she pulled her mind completely away from what was being done to her body. Once she did that—the guys probably thought either; 'A'—they'd killed her and needed to get the fuck away from her; or 'B'—once she stopped responding to the pain, they got bored and left—it's no fun to torment someone that doesn't react."

"But she's _still _not responding—and if say '_Cassidy thinks_' again, I'm going to shoot you with your own sidearm."

"I know. Now we wait to see, whether or not _they_ broke her or she _beat_ them. Ready?" he asked as he opened the door.

_***Side notes***Emily's not dead, as you've probably all read *g,* and her trust issues are going to complicate her life in an entirely new way;.--Laurens definitely going to be slammed for her actions, she'll be learning the hard way that when it comes to people, it doesn't matter how well you planned it or how good you executed it, once people are added to the mix, it's no longer in your control, the smallest action will start a chain of events that you can in no way foresee.--Lauren made a hugely critical error and she's going to get a whole lot of shit for it from the people in her life.--on the other hand, Kelly Parker's about to make a mistake so colossal it turns most of the nation against her--sometimes, Karma can really suck! *g*Lastly, while Sasha and Emily ared definitely close, it's not a romantic relationship, IMHO they're very much mirror images of eachother, alike in everyway yet still completely different.***_


	5. Chapter 5

****Chapter 5****

**Police**

_*after this Chapter, I'll be switching back to MIOBI point of views*_

The two men stepped into the front area of the gym looking around. It was completely covered with trophies and medals, framed newspaper clippings, blown up photographs. Candid shots of girls the girls training; action shots of girls suspended in air—defying gravity. There were more formal grouped and publicity shots, lining the wall.

Marc walked closer to one of the action shots. The girl it wearing black leggings and some kind trendy ripped t-shirt, short dark hair framed her face. She'd been caught mid-leap, back arched, hands graceful, legs in a perfect split as seeming to float four feet above the narrow beam.

He whistled to get Jericho's attention, tilting his head at the framed photograph. Jericho walked over, studying the photo, "looks like it could be her, and the body shape and coloring definitely match. Hard to tell for sure, she's pretty bruised right now and this shot only shows her profile."

He moved onto one of the more formally posed team photo, the girls in the photo all wearing blue and red warm-up suits. The placard attached to the frame reading 'Women's US National Gymnastics Team- 2010. Right next do it was a photo of three of the same girls, posed on a beam in red, white and blue leotards; the placard engraved with '2010 Women's US National Gymnastics Team members— Kaylie Cruz, Lauren Tanner, Emily Kmetko'.

Jericho stood next him as tapped the glass over the head of one of the girls in the photo, "this one's definitely her," he stated. "Time to go see what we can find out."

Walking through the next set of double doors opening onto the gym floor, they took two steps in and stopped dead, eyes widening in surprise. Knowing it was an elite facility they'd had a general idea of what to expect but it couldn't measure up what they were looking at.

It was an enormous room, containing a huge blue square in the middle, multiple pieces of equipment spread throughout the room. There were young girls everywhere, some as young 4 or 5, others mid to early teens. In one corner, a few were climbing up and down ropes, using only their hands, legs pulled up in a 90 degree angle. Some of them working through difficult routines on the equipment, other girls were stretching out, contorting their bodies into poses that made him wince to see. Adults wandered around the room, keeping an eye on the kids, correcting their form and calling out advice.

Jericho elbowed him the ribs, whispering, "if they were over 18—this could pass as Valhalla."

Snickering at the thought he continued looking around the room. A short step of stairs led to an empty glass-sided office off to the side of the room was a small set of bleachers filled with parents chatting as they watched their kids. A few yards away from the bleachers was another glass enclosed room, looking a bit like some kind of makeshift conference room. Inside was a small group consisting of around seven adults and three to four teenage girls. The adults were arguing heatedly with each other, the girls watching all wore various expressions and seemed to be sniping at each other.

As they stepped onto the floor to crossover to the arguing group, a girl started flying across the floor straight at them. Her body flowing in a continuous series of complex flips and twists, she approached them with a speed that made him wonder if her feet were somehow glued to a high speed train.

There was a sharp cry of "_Get the hell of the floor_!" He startled, moving out of the way right before the gymnast would have slammed into him. The room went silent, watching as the trainer who'd call out strode angrily over to them.

In the conference room all of the adults turned to see what the problem was. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but a blonde man looked to be issuing rapid fire instructions to a well dressed blonde woman, as she gestured furiously towards him and Jericho. The blonde exited the room, making her way towards them, as she skirted around the equipment.

First words out of the trainer's mouth were, "What the _hell _do you think you're doing—are you _trying _to get one of the girls injured." About to say more, the trainer was interrupted as the blonde reached them.

Holding out her hand she gave them a warm smile, "Morning gentlemen, I'm afraid you're going to have lead, this is private facility. While we're happy to give tours and meet prospective students, it is by appointment only. I'm Summer," another smile, "if you'd like I can arrange for you to have a tour and discuss the different classes we offer or if it would be more convenient you can give call us and I'll set up over the phone."

She looked at them expectantly, waiting for their reply.

"We'd like to speak to person in charge."

"That would be Sasha, Sasha Beloff. He's our head coach, the best there is and an Olympic Gold Medalist." Tilting her head towards the room she'd come from, "He's currently in an important meeting right now and unavailable."

They looked over at each other before pulling their badges and holding them out to her, "Lieutenant Gabriel and Detective Jericho," her lips gave a slight twitch at their names, "we need to speak with him."

She glanced at the badges before making eye contact again, "The meeting he's in is crucial, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to talk to you in a few hours, I can take your cards and have him call you as soon as he's finished."

"Miss, we need to speak to him now, it's in regards to a case. We don't need him to be happy to answer our questions; we just need him to answer them."

Sighing in resignation, she headed back towards the meeting area, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were following her. When she reached the door, she pushed it open, gesturing for them to come inside.

A brunette turned her chair to him, snapping, "we're in a meeting, come back later."

The blonde, who'd gestured for Summer to see what was going on, looked over and gave her a questioning look."

"Sasha, this is Lieutenant Gabriel and Detective Jericho," she gestured to each of them in turn. "They have some questions regarding a case."

If anything Beloff looked even more puzzled, "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"There was a call placed to your number early this morning, lasted about 30 minutes. We need to know who the call was to and what it was about."

"Are you sure it was our number, because we haven't had any calls yet today. Our meeting started and hour before the training started and we've been in here ever since."

Marc pulled out the piece of paper with the phone number, reading it out.

He nodded, "that's my number, the main number in fact, and the calls feed directly into my office and can only be picked up or transferred from there. But we still haven't had calls today."

Jericho picked up the thread, "could someone use the phone in your office, with you in here all day it's certainly possible."

In reply Beloff shook his head, "we haven't unlocked the office yet today."

"So, you're saying you've had absolutely no calls this morning" Jericho asked skeptically, "the phone here as been silent the entire time."

"No," he drew the word out slowly as he considered the question, "the phone actually rang a number of times, starting early morning. We've basically been cloistered in here from the moment we arrived. A few of them are probably from Emily; she's running late this morning, some kind of family crisis."

"Do you use and answering service of an answering machine?"

This time Summer answered, "a machine."

The hairs on the back of Marc's neck rose, what were the chances of the call being a message instead of a conversation. Depending on how much of the message the machine picked up, it could give them a solid timeline of what happened.

Jericho had the same thought, "we'd like to hear the messages, see if it could help us establish a timeline.

Sasha narrowed his eyes, "what's this all about?"

Marc and Jericho simply stared at him in answer.

He tried again, "What's so important about the call or the message?"

They continued to stare at him without answering.

"I'm fine with you going through the messages, it's not a problem. But I want to hear them same time you do."

Marc weighed his options. He could get a warrant for the machine—but that would take time—time enough for the message to erased, if someone was hiding something. On the other hand, sharing information with a civilian always seemed to come back and bite you in the ass. Jericho looked over giving him a small nod in agreement.

Looking back at Beloff, he sighed, "fine."

Sasha worked his way over to his office, Summer and the two police keeping pace. When they reached to door Beloff started to pull out his keys when Gabriel reached around him rattled the knob to make sure the office actually had been locked. He was shot an amused look as Beloff went about unlocking the door, heading over to his desk with the phone on it.

He waited until the rest of them were in the room and surrounding the desk before pushing the button. An automated voice announced, '_you have one new message, recorded at 5:02am.'_

There was a loud beep and then a young female's voice started came out of the machine, talking fast, her voice a mixture of annoyance and fear.

"_Hey, it's Emily, anyone there?"_ there was a small pause before the voice continued.

"_Anyways, I know the meeting should be starting I'm really, really sorry. My ride never showed up this morning, it must have been a misunderstanding. Anyways, since I couldn't reach anyone, I started walking. "I'm going as fast as I can; the last crossroads I passed were Maple and Sycamore. I'm heading West on Maple towards The Rock. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm going to stay on Maple straight to the gym, so if there's any chance someone can come out and pick me up; it would be really really great. Again, I'm so sorry about not being there on ti…"_ her voice trailed off mid-sentence, the quiet broken only by sound of sped up breathing.

When she came back on, it was easy to hear the fear lacing through her words. Every few words she paused, gulping as in an effort to steady her voice.

"_If anybody is there pick up! Pick-up NOW!" _

"_please…"_

Everyone in the room froze at the sound of her terrified plea. Beloff was the first to react, slamming his against a shelf. Summer stood silent, tears welling in her eyes. They all listened as the voice started to firm up again, like she was trying to erase the small whimper.

"_There's a yellow jeep following me, it's a black soft top, with Denver plates. "There's a 2-M-T-0 on the plate, I can't really see anything else there's mud on it and its dark." _

She continued reciting details into the phone, listing descriptions of the men, the streets she was passing. With every word her voice picked up in speed, terror creeping it. Each time she paused to pull in a panicked breath, they were able to up the sounds of male voices in the background. They couldn't get all the exact words, but the tones and rhythm of the male voices kept getting darker and more out of control.

She went quiet. A car toward slammed loudly, the sound of pounding feet and heavy breathing filling in the silence.

When a terrified scream ripped through the room, Jericho reached forward and hit pause.

Gabriel and Jericho watched as Beloff exploded, they'd been expecting it. He'd grown tenser and tenser at every world, pacing back and forth around the office like a caged tiger. When he hurled a trophy at one of walls, every person in the club looked up trying to see what was happening. As quickly as his anger had came it left.

Beloff was standing perfectly still, his chest heaving up and down, his body tense. Summer stood next to him, tears streaming down her face, hands fisted against her mouth. When he finally lifted his head and looked them in the eyes, his face haunted.

"Is she alive?"

Gabriel nodded at him, "yes."

"I need to hear the rest."


	6. Chapter 6

****Chapter 6****

**Emily**

Emily sat quietly on the floor in the middle of the empty gym, peace seeping into her body. The room was a cathedral devoted to gymnastics, every aspect designed to bring you closer to perfection. The Rock had soothed her from the moment she'd stepped inside. That first day—with her nerves strung tighter than piano wire, worries and self-doubt screaming through her head, the frosty reception from the other girls—even then, the room whispered softly to her; _'you're home, you're safe, you belong,_' for the first time in her life, she'd believed it.

Lying back on the floor, with her hands laced behind her head, staring up at the ceiling, she wondered if the other girls even _noticed_ the room, had they _ever_. Did they realize how lucky they all were to train here—did they even see it; or was it merely a backdrop to whatever their latest drama; another set of rules and strictures to try and find ways around; an obligation.

Music, that she loaded into the stereo earlier, started up, the soft beat pulsing through the room, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and again and began stretching her body out. It wasn't that she thought they didn't loved gymnastics, she knew they did—no one would be crazy enough to subject their body to this if they didn't. She gave a light shrug, it was more along the lines of they couldn't really appreciate something that they'd never had to do without.

Climbing to her feet, she moved to the chalk bowl. Rubbings clumps of it between her hands before clapping them, sending a small cloud of white dust into the air. Payson had an idea of how she felt—Pay had been the most golden of the girls there, many had considered Kaylie to be the golden girl, but it was Pay. Kaylie had the potential—but Pay, Pay had already been there, until the accident.

Emily firmly pushed the thought out of her head as she approached the uneven bar, standing directly in front of the low bar. Payson was already on her way back to the top and while she was certain Payson wouldn't agree; the accident would make Pay a better gymnast in the long run—a stronger one.

Taking a breath, she caught the lower bar, easily swinging herself up with a simple mount. Pulling herself into a handstand she transitioned fluidly, using a clear hip release with counter movements to the high bar.

The music intensified, the guitarist riffing out a solo, the beat speeding up. She pushed herself trying to match her pace to the pulse of the music, flipping between the bars—micro-pauses showing the graceful curve her body formed at the peak of each pose.

She loved being in the gym alone, having the large cavernous room to herself. It was the only time she could completely let go—lower all her defenses and not have to stress over secrets. Sasha would probably shoot her on sight if he caught her in here. She could play 'The _Princess Bride,_' like excuse in her head, of, '_he knew, I knew, that he knew, that I knew he knew'_ that she and Damon had snuck in, so she could practice—so by that logic, why _couldn't _she do it now.

Releasing the bar, she did a somersault in the pike position before doing a circle swing to a straight salto backwards—she frowned slightly, the beat of the music echoing around the gym had picked up again. _'I don't remember picking anything this fast, the drums almost sound like running.' _She pushed the thought away as she caught the bar again, smiling at the cleanness of the move.

On the other hand, Sasha _would_ say, 'she'd been _sneaking_ into the gym to practice '_because_' he'd kicked me out of the gym—and the _entire point_ of that exercise was for her to learn that she couldn't do this alone—she _needed _to trust and she _needed_ to let go of her control. Breaking into the gym at midnight to secretly practice moves—well she was pretty sure he wouldn't file that under heading of 'trust.

_All that_—it would be _before_ he started in on the idiocy of doing dangerous routines with no one as a safeguard—how _at least the last times_, she'd broken into the gym , she'd used _minimal intelligence_ by having someone there—That way, when she fell—and. Broke. Her. Neck—he could be fetched to yell at her straight off, for her base stupidity before killing her again—but now!?! Now he'd have to wait until morning to rip her to shreds.

Even knowing the trouble it could cause, Emily _couldn't_ stop coming. It wasn't that she didn't trust Sasha or even that she was working on something he might disapprove of—because she did and she wasn't. The gym, it was her _only_ sanctuary. It seemed as if every second her life got more complicated and anything she did to untangle it, resulted in more knots.

Her body was spinning through the air and around the bars at high speed; she wasn't following a routine or trying a trick. She just let her body flow, trying to match the music that seemed to be screaming out of the speakers_. Why didn't anyone hear it?_ _Why had no one checked_? _They had to know she was here. _She'd deliberately set the music low, so it wouldn't wake up Sasha—he seemed to have some kind of sixth sense where she was concerned though.

The music was echoing so loudly around the empty room she could no longer tell the original music from the echo—but it was just noise, slamming into her. She tried to slow down her body, to find the smooth controlled rhythm she started with—mind and body move in synchronization. If anything her pulse sped up as heard cymbals crashing together.

"_Why wasn't he hearing this?!? He was right next door, how could he _not _hear…" _The plaintive thought whispered through her head.

She held on to the bar tightly, afraid to let go, her body spinning madly on the bars racing to match the crashing tempo of the music and her thoughts. This was _her_ sanctuary, this was _her_ safe place.

Through clenched teeth she gritted out, "I've _earned_ my place here, I _deserve_ to be here. You have _no right_ to take that away from me—_I won't let you_!" _'No one's coming to help you Emily,' _she told herself_, 'this would be why we don't trust people. _' It felt like the entire complicated mess of her life was going to unravel—exposing every fear and inadequacy she'd ever felt. Breath sobbing, she tried to figure out what to do.

She couldn't breathe! _'I can't breathe! I can't breathe!'_ She let go of the bar, slamming hard into the ground, the impact driving any remaining air from her body. It felt like someone was trying to pick her up off the mat by her throat. Her hands flew up clawing at her throat, desperately trying to get air—eyes wheeling around the gym, searching for help. She was alone, she was always alone. Black dots started clouding her vision—'_what's happening?' _

"_EMILY! EMILY!" _

She jerked at the sound of Sasha's calm voice, her body struggling weakly—

"_Emily! Stop it! Listen to me! Emily!"_

She tried to draw in another breath, but it only made her throat hurt.

"_Emily! Focus, stop moving and focus!"_

"Can't. Breathe."

"_Yes—you can," _he firmly disagreed_."Now, focus!"_

When all she did was shake her head, his voice turned impatient.

"_The mind controls the body, Emily. You can do this. Stop moving. Block out everything—and Breathe."_

She stopped struggling, her body motionless on the mats. The chaotic clashing music got fainter before drifting away entirely—leaving the room completely silent except for the sound of her steady breathing.

"_Let go of the fear—fear makes you hesitate—hesitation is dangerous. Find the place inside—where you can sit quiet and calm—safe inside your own mind—existing only in this moment."_

Emily sat silent in the quiet of the gym; she loved when she had it to herself. It was freedom, an escape from the constant problems and pressures of life. She walked over to a set of uneven bars, inanely thinking of Razor's story about his true love breaking his heart when she chose 'invisibility' over 'flying' as a superpower. She had to agree with Razor, 'invisibility' was being nothing, no one, an unseen spectator; in contrast, 'flying' was _absolute_ freedom, the ability to defy gravity itself as you soar through the sky.

Smiling, she mounted the bars easily swinging herself into a 'glide klip with a stoop though on the low bar, flowing into her transition, a spring forward to straddled roll backwards. For one small moment she paused, at the very edge of senses, something dark lurked. "Khalil Gibran had once said, '_your joy can fill you only as deeply as your sorrow has carved you,_'" she whispered it to herself, "I will be okay."…Letting go of everything, she immersed herself in the freedom of flying.


End file.
